Mizuho Bank Deploys Fujitsu Digital Signage

From aka.tv

5 Apr 2009

Fujitsu Limited today announced that, starting this month, Mizuho Bank is rolling out its "Multi-Monitor Information Distribution System" across its bank branch network in Japan.

Providing customers with up-to-date financial product and market information, the MMIDS digital signage system is an end-to-end solution from Fujitsu. Mizuho have outsourced the complete management and operation of the system to Fujitsu’s outsourcing service.

Content is distributed to 1,400 large screen displays installed throughout the branch network.

aka.tv – Mizuho Bank Deploys Fujitsu Digital Signage

Japanese team invents video paint

April 1 2009 – Tokyo: A team from one of Tokyo’s leading technology institutes has announced a completely new form of digital display technology that looks set to revolutionise the way information is displayed electronically.

Professor Kenjiro Shigatsubaka and his team from the Kichijoji Institute of Digital Ultrachromatics (KIDU) presented the new technology at a small private gathering of academics at an undisclosed venue in West Tokyo. Professor Shigatsubaka’s new technique employs a revolutionary liquid polymer that is excited by an electric charge to alter its appearance.  Molecules within the compound can present either a transparent aspect or a semi-opaque one depending on the electrical charge applied to it. By creating versions of the polymer using cyan, magenta and yellow pigments, a substrate capable of displaying a full spectrum of colours can be built-up in layers by applying several coats of the “paint”. The substrate is excited by a electric charges in the X and Y axes, which interact with each other to create complex interference patterns. By controlling these interference patterns, Professor Shigatsubaka is able to create a moving image using the polymer substrate. The effectiveness of the technique was demonstrated to an astonished audience by a junior member of the team donning white overalls and painting a moving picture onto what appeared to be just a plain white wall.

“We still have some way to go to perfect the technology,” conceded Professor Shigatsubaka. “Inertia within molecules limits the bandwidth we are able to achieve t present and results in some artefacts in fast-moving images. However the technique is already good enough for most applications and we are confident of being able to improve performance dramatically in the future.”

Professor Shigatsubaka is convinced that his invention will transform the built environment in the 21st century. “For the first time everybody will have complete freedom to change the environment they live in with the touch of a button. If you want to watch TV on the ceiling, relax in a forest grove or even in outer space, you can do so as easily as changing channel on TV,” he said. “From now on, the chore of decorating will be a thing of the past,” he continued, adding that hitherto menfolk will be free to enjoy restful and guilt-free Bank Holidays and Sundays.

The markets have been quick to react to the news: Leisure groups such as golf clubs saw big gains, as did paint manufacturers. DIY stores however were hit hard as the implications of a world freed from the curse of the “quick makeover” became widely recognised.

Laurence Llewellyn Bowen was unavailable for comment last night.

Yankee Stadium’s New HDTV Is Bigger Than Yours — Way Bigger | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

By Jose Fermoso March 25, 2009 | 6:01:00 AMCategories: Displays, Sports, Television

Anyone walking into the new $1.3 billion stadium for the New York Yankees this spring is bound to be amazed by the size of the center field LED scoreboard, as the first photos of the screen reveal.

Taken by a local CBS affiliate in New York, the pics show early tests of the 103-by-58-foot, 1080p HD Mitsubishi Diamond Vision LED display, which is six times larger than the screen at old Yankee Stadium. According to Mitsubishi, the display is embedded with 8,601,600 LED lamps (covering a total of 5,925 square feet), and can put up to four simultaneous images, with picture-in-picture capabilities.

Yankee Stadium’s New HDTV Is Bigger Than Yours — Way Bigger | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

NTT testing new digital-signage tech in Tokyo

by Barnaby Page, editor, Screens.TV

Japan’s NTT and its NTT Com subsidiary today began testing systems that can distribute advertising content to digital-signage systems from multiple manufacturers and then estimate the audiences they reach.
If successful, the company’s researchers could smooth the way toward greater acceptance of digital out-of-home on the part of agencies and brands currently deterred by differing technical requirements for content and inconsistent audience measurement.
The tests will run until March in NTT’s labs and at four Tokyo locations: Shinagawa (pictured), Yokohama and Haneda Airport train stations and the Marunouchi Building.
They are based on two technologies from NTT’s Cyber Communications Laboratory Group – distribution management integration, which allows content to be dispatched to multiple different digital-signage platforms through a single interface, and advertising effectiveness measurement, based on video capture of audiences.
“Differences in the distribution and data formats of manufacturers have made it difficult to distribute ads on a wide scope,” the companies said.

NTT testing new digital-signage tech in Tokyo

Mitsubishi Electric and C-nario Announce Partnership in Benelux, Eastern Europe, Russia, CIS and Turkey

Mitsubishi Electric’s Visual Information Systems Division in the Netherlands, and C-nario, a global provider of digital signage software solutions, today announced a strategic partnership to provide comprehensive digital signage solutions. Mitsubishi’s product offering, including professional LCD monitors, multimedia projectors, LED display systems and display wall cube systems, will be combined with C-nario’s digital signage software products as turnkey solutions for all system integrators offering digital signage solutions. Mitsubishi Electric Benelux office is responsible for Benelux, Eastern Europe, Russia, CIS and Turkey.

The announcement comes at an exciting time for both parties, with Mitsubishi Electric looking to increase its presence within the narrowcasting/public display sector, and C-nario expanding its digital signage solutions portfolio in the AV and IT channels, strengthening the company’s relations with AV and IT integrators. Both companies expect synergy for all partners in this multi-channel approach.

C-nario’s software-based platform has proven extremely successful in numerous demanding applications, meeting the requirements of a wide range of customers. Through the partnership announced today, Mitsubishi Electric’s and C-nario’s expertise in advanced visual information technologies and applications will enable both companies to deliver complete turnkey narrowcasting/public display solutions, supported by the resources of Mitsubishi Electric, one of the world’s largest engineering businesses.

"We always strive to make digital signage projects implementation as simple as possible, without compromising quality. A standard package of high quality Mitsubishi displays and C-nario’s digital signage operating platform aims to do precisely that. This is an exciting business opportunity to our partners and customers," said Rami Bahar, C-nario’s Vice President Sales and Strategic Planning. "We strongly believe that our partnership with Mitsubishi Electric will greatly enhance our digital signage offering, add further momentum to our strong growth in this sector, and enable integrators to simplify digital signage projects. "

"We are very pleased to announce our partnership with C-nario," said A.C. ter Meulen, President, Mitsubishi Electric Benelux. "We are confident that C-nario’s knowledge and experience within the digital signage sector coupled with Mitsubishi’s comprehensive product range will prove a highly-successful and mutually beneficial partnership".

CEATEC 2008: OOH is getting bigger; ITH is getting skinny and 3D is getting everywhere

I recently visited the CEATEC electronics show in Tokyo and was completely knocked out by some of the technologies on display. CEATEC is perhaps the premier event in the world for the showcasing of new electronics products and technologies. Although I have followed reports of the show religiously for a number of years, this was my first time actual visit – and it didn’t disappoint.

Nearly 200,000 people poured through the doors over the five days of the show; on the day I visited the gate was nearly 48,000. It was packed! But somehow the frenetic atmosphere and jostling to peer through the assembled masses at the latest gadget actually added to the excitement.

The great thing about CEATEC is that it is part pro-equipment and part consumer, so it’s possible to see what’s around the corner in both sectors of the displays business at once.

From a professional standpoint, it’s clear that the digital signage movement has finally gained the momentum that many have been predicting for a number of years. Mitsubishi Electric dedicated virtually the whole of its professional products area to a digital signage display based around its Resolia LED screens and flat panel displays. Image content was delivered to the mix of displays by a new Video over IP solution. Unfortunately, my Japanese didn’t stretch to finding out more, but I’m sure it’s not the last we’ve heard of this particular technology.

 

Aside from Mitsubishi, there were plenty of other manufacturers there hawking displays clearly intended for DOOH applications. Large-format LCDs from a number of companies were much in evidence, and particularly noteworthy was the number of really big format screens – 72” and above – being showcased by Chinese and Korean producers that are as yet unheard of in the West. Possibly an early indication of a price-squeeze in the channel at DOOH hots-up around the world?

The other big trend is for wafer-thin displays, with Sony leading the field with its astonishingly gossamer-like OLED screen. So thin is this screen, in fact, that my camera couldn’t get an accurate focus on it side on – it really is quite remarkable. The picture quality was also quite impressive, and it seems that Sony might be onto something with its OLED. But other manufacturers are following closely and Sony will have to be careful not to make the mistake it did with LED and take its eye off the ball.

The other interesting new display technology on show at CEATEC was Mitsubishi Electric’s Laservue laser powered rear projection TV. The new displays were demonstrated in special private viewing theatres and visitors queued for up to an hour at a time to get a glimpse of this new technology. Aimed at the home market, the colour rendition of Laservue is quite remarkable – the colours really punch-out of the screen – putting this display pretty much at the top-end of the market. both in terms of performance and price. Mitsubishi finished its presentation of Laservue with some 3D footage that was impressive. Although perhaps not quite so interesting at some of the other 3D technologies on show.

3D display has been around for quite a while in various guises but continues to suffer the perennial problem of how to get two separate images onto the same screen without the use of special glasses. That is, until now.

Panasonic had this interesting device on show – a full colour, full motion 3D screen that requires no glasses. As I understand it, special optical strips restrict image crossover between the viewers eyes to give an illusion of depth. It really does work, however as you’d expect, the viewing angle is quite restricted to get the full effect. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting approach. The obvious application is in mobile devices, and on the KDDi stand, they demonstrated just that – a phone with a 3D display. Again, it worked – albeit with the same provisos as the Panasonic.

But perhaps my favourite exhibit of the whole show was a new range of concept mobile phones inspired by Yamaha that really exemplifies the Japanese genius for design and ingenuity: We’ve all heard of playing music on your phone, but how about REALLY playing music – as in strumming a guitar, pounding the keys or blowing some cool sax? Well, now you can, and so can all your friends.

The new phones contain built-in musical instruments that allow you to play by “plucking” strings or hitting tiny piano keyboards or blowing through an electronic mouthpiece. The ensemble shown here demonstrated the possibilities in an onstage jam-session, each member playing a different “instrument”. There’s no denying the genius of the idea, although I suspect the novelty will wear pretty thin on commuters forced to endure endless tinny renditions of ‘Smoke On The Water’ on the 5.17 from Charing Cross.

You can view more pictures of the Mitsubishi stand at CEATEC HERE

Microsoft Debuts Surface Screen

 

15 Aug 2008

The Sheraton Boston Hotel is one of five U.S. Sheratons that has launched a "virtual concierge" digital signage solution, writes aka.tv

The display, situated on a table, consists of a 30-inch surface computer designed to allow multiple guests to seek self-service concierge information at the same time. Customers are able to access tourist information, details about other Sheraton hotels and on-demand music selections.

The technology represents the debut of Microsoft Surface with the Sheraton installation being Microsoft’s first commercially available surface computer. It has an intuitive user interface that works without a traditional mouse or keyboard, allowing people to interact with content and information by using their hands and gestures.

The units will be located in the lobby of each hotel. The other hotels within the group using the surface are: the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, the Sheraton Seattle Hotel, and the Sheraton Gateway San Francisco Airport Hotel.

aka.tv – Microsoft Debuts Surface Screen

InAVate – Big screens around the UK for 2012

The London 2012 organising committee has announced the roll out of the UK’s largest-ever network of public giant screens. The network will be funded by private partners and the national lottery, and will include permanent structures in the centre of six large towns around the country.

The total network will be nearer 30 LED screens by the time the 2012 Olympics arrive, but what has been interesting is the reaction of portions of the press to what is being termed the “digital wallpapering” of the UK.

Whilst the Olympic organisers argue that the screens will provide town centres with a lasting legacy from the games, opponents have drawn comparisons with George Orwell’s vision of 1984, in which the public are subjected to information 24hrs a day with no way of switching it off.

From InAVate Magazine. Click below for the original story

InAVate – Big screens around the UK for 2012

LEDs Magazine – LED displays feature at Wimbledon, cricket venue

 

Mitsubishi screen knocks cricket fans for six

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club’s new Diamond Vision screen made its International debut at Trent Bridge last month for the third npower Test Match between England and New Zealand.

Trent Bridge cricket ground

Architect Huw Evans of Maber Associates incorporated the 83 m² ODQ10 Mitsubishi LED screen as an integral part of the new administrative building that adjoins the new stand at Nottingham.

The 10mm pitch Diamond Vision screen is driven at its native resolution of 864 x 960 to ensure optimum performance for both video and text. The majority of matches are non-televised and at these events the entire display operates as a traditional full-screen scoreboard. For televised events the portrait format enables a 56 m² 4:3 video picture to be displayed along with a 27 m² abbreviated scoreboard.

Screen content is driven by a presentation system specially developed by screen installer Technographic Displays. Trent Bridge is the first cricket ground in the UK to install a Diamond Vision screen, although the system is already used at several cricket clubs in New Zealand and Australia.

Tom Paterson, Match Operations Manager at Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club with responsibility for overseeing the development of the ground, commented, "The display quality is fantastic and the TechEvent software is proving to be just as powerful, flexible and reliable as we had hoped. In fact, we have yet to explore its full potential and look forward to doing so. The screen attracted universal praise at the Test Match, with many pundits describing it as the ‘best in cricket’."

LEDs Magazine – LED displays feature at cricket venue

Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision chosen for Air Canada Centre

Mitsubishi Electric has been chosen by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) to supply and install a breathtaking new 17-screen high-definition scoreboard and display system at the Air Canada Centre, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs ice-hockey team and the Toronto Raptors basketball team. Combining multi-sided and linear displays, the new cutting-edge Diamond Vision™ system will provide the Air Canada Centre with the most advanced video displays of any arena in Canada.

The centrepiece of the centre-hung scoreboard display will a four-sided 6mm “Black Package” Diamond Vision screen. The Air Canada Centre system will be the first in the NHL/NBA market to feature Black Package LED technology. Now available on Mitsubishi Electric’s 6mm, 4mm and 3mm displays, Black Package provides superior contrast and black levels over conventional white packaged LEDs; its special black construction allowing the LED chip to blend virtually unnoticeably into the black face of the display.

“The black package LED represents the most cutting-edge technology available for indoor display systems,” said Elan Azar, general manager of Mitsubishi Electric Sales, Canada’s Display & Imaging Solutions Division. “Mitsubishi installed the first high-definition LED display in the arena market at TD Banknorth Garden in 2006, and the first 6mm high-definition LED display in 2007 at the Verizon Center. We are very excited to introduce this latest technological advance to the arena marketplace by installing the first 6mm black package LED Displays right here in Toronto, at a world-class facility such as Air Canada Centre.”

“This installation confirms once again Mitsubishi Electric’s reputation for quality, performance and proven reliability in arena display technology. The Diamond Vision system continues to lead the technology curve and set the standards in the arena marketplace,” noted Azar.

The selection of Diamond Vision came after exhaustive research by MLSE officials, who compared the displays in use at numerous arenas throughout North America before selecting the Mitsubishi Electric product. “Of the systems we saw, the Mitsubishi Diamond Vision boards were consistently superior in uniformity and reliability,” said Dwayne Brown, technical producer, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. “Plus, being able to showcase the black package LED is particularly exciting given Air Canada Centre’s status as a world-class facility.”

The 6mm main displays will utilise Mitsubishi Electric’s state-of-the-art Digital Screen Controller, driven by a high-definition 1080 HD source from Air Canada Centre’s new 1080 high-definition control room. In addition to the black package 6mm main video displays, Mitsubishi Electric is using 10mm display technology for additional eight-sided upper displays and four-sided scoring displays, as well as a 22m long circular ring. Mitsubishi Electric is also supplying a new integrated scoring system consisting of all new shot clocks and ANC’s state-of-the-art VisionSOFT control system.

“After extensive research and reviewing several installations in different venues, Mitsubishi proved to be the clear winner in the large screen display industry with their technology, quality and price,” said Curt Emerson, manager of venue services and content deployment for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. “We are very excited to debut our new high-definition Mitsubishi Diamond Vision video display at Air Canada Centre this fall.”

Toronto fans can expect the new display system to be competed by August 1, 2008 in time for the upcoming NHL and NBA seasons.